War Tapes – The Continental Divide

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If thats the case this decade has been the wellspring of a whole lot of flattery in the arena of popular music. There was the arrival of the Hard-Fi and their heavy tips of the cap to Blur, the Johnny Cash-esque leanings of Brent Amaker & The Rodeo, and the significant Jimmy Eat World nods of a band called Number One Fan (who themselves are now models of Kings of Leon as The Wildbirds). Of course there have been many more than just those few, but they just happened to be the first three that came to mind.

And now we have War Tapes. The LA-based quartet are purveyors of big, ringing, shimmering guitars made famous by such bands as Editors, Longwave, Interpol, and even U2. I’m not kidding when I use the word big, and perhaps it doesn’t go far enough. I’m talking massively huge, arena filling, shimmering walls of guitars. There aren’t many other outfits that you’ll find today that have guitars quite as sizable and substantial as you’re going to hear on this set of songs. It’s the band’s calling card, and certainly not a bad one to have in your arsenal. Moreover, it’s absolutely essential in order to pull off the big melodies and the dark, 80s influenced post-punk song structures that are so prevalent over the course of these twelve songs. Instrumentally the group has got this game covered, as each individual part fits well with each other, from the churning bass of Becca Popkin and steady drumming of William Mohler. If there is a questionable link in here its some of the lead guitar decisions of Matt Bennett, which stylistically can be just a bit confusing. All these things come crashing together most effectively on songs such as “Dreaming of You” and “Use Me.”

All of these musical elements wouldn’t be as important without some appropriate lead vocals to cap them off. Singer Neil Popkin’s voice manages to soar (it’s obvious that he’s listened to just a little bit of Morrissey over the years) despite the fact that the subject matter that crosses his vocal chords is mostly dour in nature. You only need to look at the song titles to get a feel for the mood of this record: tracks like “She Lied,” “Mind Is Ugly,” and “Use Me” need no further explanations, but I’ll provide some anyway. “Rightfully Mine” opens with the line “I’m the one who’s struggling/In a world gone mad/I suffocate in the ocean air/Just to call this place my home,” while “Start Again” starts with the verse “Seven lies and I’ve had it with this game/I want to start again/and the world drapes it’s arms around my neck/I want to start again, start again.” Gloomy to be sure, and while it’s not the gloomiest I’ve come across during my years of music appreciation, these aren’t Tiny Tim lines either. Paired up with Popkin’s work are the vocals of his sister Becca, and whether or not it’s their sibling rivalry at play the duo work well together. Becca adds a bit of sweetness mixing in some backup vocals here and there while also providing While his vocals fit the the general timbre of these songs, there are times when he has a tendency to push the envelope and over sing things just a bit. The 2nd half of “Fast Lane” is a prime example of this.

So what we have here is an album full of big bombastic guitars and big, soaring choruses that all in all winds up being a solid effort. However, if the album does have one notable downside, it’s the fact that from start to finish the album winds up being very samey. Both the driving, uptempo numbers and the more laid back songs end up employing the same set of tools in order to craft their brand of rock, which in the end leads to very little variation over the course of this record. In turn, one song can run into the next and the unsaavy listener might not notice if he’s not careful. Still, the band is young and this is just their debut LP. I always play the part of the optimist and I believe that this can be improved upon for future releases. For now, the band has found a formula that works for them, so it’s hard to blame them for not wanting to tamper with it.